Cotton picker compressor assembly



Oct. 22, 1968 M. A. WEST 3,406,507

COTTON PICKER COMPRESSOR ASSEMBLY Filed July 14, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 oa) 74" y INVENTOR /%w/m@-/ ATTORNEY 3 Oct. 22, 1968 w sT 3,406,507

COTTON PICKER COMPRESSOR ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 14, 1966INVENTOR BY 9 I AnoRNi'Ys United States Patent 3,406,507 COTTON PICKERCOMPRESSOR ASSEMBLY Mack A. West, PO. Box 101, Paragould, Ark. 72450Filed July 14, 1966, Ser. No. 565,167 6 Claims. (CI. 56-44) The presentinvention relates in general to harvesters, and in particular to cottonpickers. It is an improvement in pickers of the type disclosed in US.Patent 3,169,359, assigned to International Harvester Company.

Cotton pickers of this general type are equipped with compressor sheetswhich guide the plants laterally into engagement with banks of rotaryspindles which engage and pull the cotton from the open bolls. Ingeneral, the compressor sheets are spring loaded or disposed so thatthey have vertical face contact with the plant foliage in planesthat areparallel to the vertical axes of the drums which carry the sets ofspindles.

When cotton matures the bolls open first from the ground to about halfway up the plant stalk. If this open cotton is to be picked before theupper bolls open, it is usual practice to adjust'the compressor sheetsso that they bear tightly against the plant foliage and force the openbolls against the spindles. This action, of course, because ofinflexibility of the compressor sheets, correspondingly tightens theupper portions of the sheets against the upper portions of the plants.The result is that many unopened bolls are pulled away from the upperportions of the plants and are lost, thus lowering the ultimate yield ofthe crop. If the compressor sheets are adjusted so that they bear onlylightly on the upper portions of the plants to avoid stripping unopenbolls, then the lighter pressure of the sheets against the lowerportions of the plants results in less picking of the open bolls,dropping cotton, and stringing it out on the stalks, again lowering theyield.

An object of my invention is to provide a compressor assembly havingadjustable presser means operative independently of the compressorsheet, whereby to enable selective pressures to be applied to the plantfoliage at various points in the vertical sets of picker spindles.

Another object is to provide a novel compressor assembly wherein springloaded discs, corresponding in number and height to a stack of pickerspindle sets with which they are associated, are individually adjustableto selected portions laterally advanced from the plant engageable faceof their associated compressor sheet.

Still another object is to provide a compressor assembly in whichselectively adjustable presser discs, corresponding in number and heightto a vertical stack of I sets of picker spindles with which they areassociated, are self conforming to the shape of plants they engage.

Other and incidental objects are apparent from the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is substantially a fragmentary sectional view taken horizontallythrough the forepart of a cotton picker similar to the picker shown inthe aforesaid Patent 3,l69,- 359, as equipped with my invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevation, partly broken away, taken sub stantially on line22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

The known cotton picker to which my invention is applied has a pair ofleft and right counterpart portions 3 and 4 which respectively enclosevertical rotary picker drums 5 and 6, dofiing mechanism 7 and spindlemoistener mechanism 8. The drums mount stacks of vertically spacedpicker spindles 9. These rotate about their individual, substantiallyhorizontal axes to wind the cotton and pluck it from the bolls as themachine advances along a row of cotton plants.

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The present invention concerns the means which presses the open cottonbolls into engagement with the spindles. It comprises an improvementupon the compressor sheet assemblies of the prior art. As here shown,the compressor sheet 10 consists of a leading front portion 11 and arear portion 12. The front portion 11 is of substantially the height ofthe opposite spindle drum 5 and, with respect to the line of advance,diverges forwardly and outwardly. The forward end of the front portion11 is curved around a vertical pivot post 13 which is fastened to theassociated framework 14 of housing portion 4. The rear portion 12diverges slightly rearwardly and outwardly relative to the line ofadvance and is located in the picking zone of the forward drum bank 5.In this area the picker spindles 9 project farther into the plantfoliage and penetrate the plant for the full extent of their lengths,with their tips riding in an arcuate pocket 15 in the rear sheet portion12 substantially concentric with the path of movement of the tips of thespindles.

The compressor sheet 10 is biased in the direction of the plant passageby torsion spring means which is anchored at 13a to the framework 14 ofthe machine portion 4. The spring has an output arm 16 which bearsagainst the back face of the front portion 11 of the compressor sheetsand biases it laterally toward the spindles 9 of the drum 5.

The improvement comprising my invention consists mainly in the provisionof a stack of horizontal presser discs 17 that are independent of thecompressor sheet, and which are individually and separately movable toselective positions of adjustment relative to an adjacent set of pickerspindles, whereby to force cotton bolls into engagement with thespindles at selected heights of the plant stalk. The discs are disposedinwardly behind the pocket 15 in the rear portion 12 of the compressorplate. A vertical series of horizontal slots 18 is provided in thepocket 15. These slots and also the discs correspond in number to thenumber of spindle sets on the adjacent drum, and are arranged so thatthe horizontal planes in which they lie pass midway between adjacentupper and lower spindles as shown in the broken away area of FIG. 2.

Each disc 17 is horizontally aligned with a corresponding slot 18through which a portion of the disc normally extends in slidablerelation. Support for each disc is provided by a pair of verticallyspaced parallel arms 19 that are pivoted at their forward ends on avertical hinge post 20 mounted in the front portion 11 of the compressorsheet between its inwardly directed top and bottom edge flanges 21 and22, respectively. The rear ends of each unit pair of the disc supportarms 19 mount between them a vertical axle 23 on which the correspondingdisc is freely rotatable between the end portions of the arms.

Each disc axle has pivotal connection with the ends of a yoke 24 thatconstitutes part of an adjustment rod 25. This rod extends horizontallywithin the casing that houses the compressor disc assembly and isslidable axially through the exterior wall 26 of the casing. The outerend of the rod projects outwardly beyond the casing wall and is threadedto receive an adjusting nut 27. At the inner side of the casing wall therod is surrounded by the coils of an expansion spring 28 which bears atone end against the casing wall and at its other end against a collar 29that is slidable on the rod to vary the tension of the spring. Thecollar is anchored in various positions of adjustment by a set screw 30.

An important feature of my invention is the location of the hinge post20 close to the pivot 13 at the front end of the compressor sheet. Thisarrangement insures that the presser discs will not be affected bymovements of the compressor sheets. Consequently, the compressor sheetscan be adjusted to positions in which they functionmerely as guides forthe plants, exertingpractically no pressure that would forcethe bollsagainst the picker spindles: the imposition of which pressure is afunction of the individual discs 17. In effect; my invention transformsthe uniform bottom to top pressure exerted by rigid compressor sheetsinto a flexible, selectively Variable pressure exerted by theindividually adjustable spring biased discs. 7

It is to be understood that the compressor sheet assembly for the leftportion 3 is identical to the above described assembly for the rightportion 2, except that the hinge post for the arms which carry the discswill be mounted on the rear portion of the compressor sheet.

i Operation As the compressor assemblies for portions 3 and 4 are thesame, the following description in regard to the assembly in the rightportion 4 will suflice for both. The compressor sheet 10 is initiallyadjusted to a position in which it bears only lightly against thefoliage of the plants it guides into the path of the picker spindles 9of the left portion 3. With the compressor sheet in this position itspressure is not sufiicient to effect maximum picking, as hereinbeforestated. The presser discs 17 are then'adjusted individually bymanipulation of the nuts 27 to project the discs through the slots 18 sothat portions of the discs will extend laterally from the compressorsheet in position to pass between upper and lower adjacent spindles asshown in FIG. 2, and to a degree of penetration determined by thesetting of the nuts. As there is a disc for each horizontal set ofspindles, and because each disc can be adjusted individually to applymore or less pres sure as needed at selected heights of the plantstalks, it is an easy matter to' adjust the discs to apply at any heightof a plant the pressure best suited to effect at that height a maximumpicking from the bolls which are open at the time a crop is harvested.This is accomplished by appropriate adjustment in the tension of thevarious springs.

It is to be understood that the herein disclosed embodiment of myinvention is illustrative of a practical example and that the inventionis not restricted thereto. It may comprise any structure falling withinthe scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim? 1. In a cotton picker machine having vertical rotary drumscarrying horizontal sets of picker spindles, and a spring biasedcompressor sheet for guiding plants into engagement ,wit h thespindleslr presser means as sociated with .the' sheeft'jand 'operatiyeindepehdentlyther'eof to pass horizontally."between adjacent sets of thespindles and force the plant foliageinto engagement with the spindles;said sheet having apeitures for passage therethrough ofsaid.pressermeans.

2. In the structure ofclaim 1,'said presser means comprising a pluralityof freely. rotatable horizontal discs correspondingin number to the.spindle sets; and sepa: rate spring means for each disc biasing the discto project laterally through an adjacent sheet'aperture into. yieldableengagement with the plant foliage.

3. In thestructure of claim -2,-the sheet aperture being a horizontalslot in the compressor sheet, e A 4. In the structure of claim 3, meansfor adjustably varying the tensionof the spring means-for each presser.disc independently of all the others. r

.- 5. In a cotton picker machine having vertical rotary drums carryingvertically spaced sets of horizontal picker spindles; a series ofvertically spaced and freely rotatable presser discs arrangedhorizontally in planes such that eachdisc is. adapted to passhorizontally between the upper and lower sets of spindles'adjacentthereto; an individual horizontal adjustment rod carrying each'disc andslidable axially through a fixed-element of the machine; and means forretaining said rod in various positions .of penetration betweenitsadjacentsets ofupper and lower'spindles. I U6. 'In'the structure ofclaim 5, spring means individual to each rod'and. yieldably biasing itsdisc to the-farthest penetration between adjacent spindles permitted bythe rod retaining means. .1

ReferencesCited- UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,035,388 5/1962 Sarl1s 56-42.3,169,359 2/1965, Nickla et a1.' 56 44 RUSSELL R. KINSEY, ljrimaryExaminer.

1. IN A COTTON PICKER MACHINE HAVING VERTICAL ROTARY DRUMS CARRYINGHORIZONTAL SETS OF PICKER SPINDLES, AND A SPRING BIASED COMPRESSOR SHEETFOR GUIDING PLANTS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SPINDLES; PRESSER MEANSASSOCIATED WITH THE SHEET AND OPERATIVE INDEPENDENTLY THEREOF TO PASSHORIZONTALLY BETWEEN ADJACENT SETS OF THE SPINDLES AND FORCE THE PLANTFOLIAGE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SPINDLES; SAID SHEET HAVING APERTURESFOR PASSAGE THERETHROUGH OF SAID PRESSER MEANS.